Charter Schools

[Lamplighter]

With respect to funding, charter schools may, in a very narrow sense,
receive less State funding than the traditional public schools.

But charter schools have fewer legal requirements than public schools
with respect to buildings/maintenance, providing transportation
to all students (including charter school students),
providing health safety/resources in larger schools,
contracting with ESD's for special ed services,
and are usually not eligible for private funding.
And most importantly, public schools must provide for ALL students

Charter schools on the other hand are eligible for private donations,
may co-locate with other schools or churches or unique locations, etc.

Here is a recent study that attempts to get a real-world handle
on the differences in resources between charter and public schools.
The authors do not conclude that successful charter schools have less
resources than their nearby (local) public schools, and Texas is one of the states in their study.


National Education Policy Center
May 3, 2012

Charter Schools: How Many Bucks for the Desired Bang?

Schools operated by major charter management organizations (CMOs)
generally spend more than surrounding public schools,
according to Spending by the Major Charter Management Organizations:
Comparing Charter School & Local Public District Financial Resources in New York, Ohio and Texas.<snip>

“Charter school finances are hard to measure,” says Baker.
“Charters generally receive both public and private funds.
Also, in-kind assistance and resources from districts and states to charters vary greatly.
Yet we can see that the most successful charters, such as KIPP and the Achievement First schools,
have substantially deeper pockets than nearby traditional schools<snip>

But according to Spending by the Major Charter Management Organizations,
a “marginal expense” may be larger than it sounds.
An additional $1,837 expense in Houston for a KIPP charter school,
where the average middle school operating expenditure per pupil is $7,911,
equals a 23 to 30 percent cost increase.<snip>

Similarly, some charter chains in Texas, such as KIPP, spend substantially more
per pupil than district schools in the same city and serving similar populations.
In some Texas cities (and at the middle school level), these charters spend
around 30 to 50 percent more based on state reported current expenditures.
If the data from IRS filings are used, these charters are found to spend 50 to 100 percent more.

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